I want to have the same last dream again (march catch-all)

[ghostfromthemachine]

WHO: Kaiko and... you, perhaps?
WHAT: assorted shenanigans
WHEN: throughout March
WHERE: Nightwake, Amberfall, probably wherever you least expect her—
WARNINGS: will update as necessary!

Prompts will be in toplevels! OTA unless otherwise stated.

Comments

[abnormalizes]

Oh, no, I mean - I don't mind talking about how much my world sucks in general? But a bunch of times I've mentioned something that was normal to me and gotten 'what the fuck, Evangeline, I'm going to have nightmares about that now', so. Don't love that part.

[ghostfromthemachine]

Well, that's tactless, I wouldn't love it either. ...I can't promise I wouldn't ever be shocked, but I think I can manage enough empathy not to... hell. Be offended because you talked about your life?

casual cannibalism mention

[abnormalizes]

I don't think they were offended or anything! [Alarmed!! Please don't think her friends are jerks!!] Just, like, maybe I should use some discretion with who I mention the cannibal restaurants to.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ continued grumpy fluffing, though to her credit she does not bat an eye ]

Even if they weren't, that wording is still—

[ ...

pinching her nose and scrunching her face up]

No, never mind, I think I'm projecting, sorry. Discretion is certainly fair for that kind of topic.

[abnormalizes]

[Hold on, she needs a moment of thought here.]

I guess it's like - they're things I left at home and hopefully will never go back to, so I don't want to give them more power to hurt other people? ...And I also don't want people to feel bad for me and treat me weirdly because of it, that's gross.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ ...softening ]

That's all very fair. My apologies— my own "normal" has involved some things that could easily get that kind of reaction, so I got unnecessarily defensive.

I think... not having the room to talk about where you came from—including in the metaphorical sense—can be stifling. But wanting to leave those things behind for whatever reason isn't wrong, either? So.

[ shrugging! ]

[abnormalizes]

You're super valid. And - I guess if you ever want to talk about those things, I've got a pretty high resilience? We could trade stories.

[ghostfromthemachine]

...that would be nice. I, ah, I might have been thinking about that, when you mentioned what your home was like?

[ a rueful chuckle ]

It... would be nice to talk to someone without— I guess without worrying the other person is going to be horrified? And frankly, my resilience at this point is pretty high, too, at least when it comes to human behavior.

[abnormalizes]

Oh, yeah, some humans are like, the worst. You can totally vent to me.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ "some"— no, come on Kaiko, you can put the bitterness down for like five seconds.

she's just going to hum and perch on a nearby table. ]

I guess, then... are ghosts much of a thing where you're from?

[abnormalizes]

They exist, but they're not super common, I think?

[They were mentioned offhandedly as a thing that exists with no context or elaboration so winging it!!]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ thanks canon. ]

Sounds like about average, then... um. Anyway.

[ does a little jazz hands ]

Boo?

[abnormalizes]

Oh! Is it appropriate to say 'my condolences', or is that something you hear too much of?

[She can imagine it might get old.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

I think for most other people it'd be appropriate. The thought is certainly appreciated, though in my case it's... complicated?

[ huffing a laugh ]

Let's just say that while the process was 0-out-of-10-stars-do-not-recommend terrible, the results were one of the best things to happen to me.

[abnormalizes]

That's good at least! Everybody should get to be happy with themselves and their bodies, ghosts included.

[ghostfromthemachine]

Hard agree. I got... pretty lucky, in that regard.

[ ...does she want to mention the hideous body dysphoria...

maybe not for a first conversation! that's a little personal. ]

That's definitely the source of most of my woes, though. Like, can't a girl make grouchy noises about getting shot without it turning into a big deal?

[abnormalizes]

It's super frustrating! Like, people are nice, they're trying to be supportive, but also we don't have to go on at length about the mortality rate at my workplace and how I feel about it, I just want to whine a little and then move on.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ POINTING AT HER ]

Exactly. Exactly?! Venting is healthy, let us vent, it doesn't have to be a whole therapy session every time.

[abnormalizes]

Right! You get it! Maybe I don't want to unpack my trauma today and just complain some!

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ sticks both hands in the air in excitement, like, YES ]

All right, all right, all right— what's the most annoying part of the high employee turnover.

[abnormalizes]

Learning people's names. We get five new people in a week and none of our uniforms have name tags because it's a waste of money, how the fuck am I expected to remember all these people's names?

[ghostfromthemachine]

—you don't even get the "hello, my name is:" stickers?

[abnormalizes]

You can if you pay for them yourself?

[ghostfromthemachine]

They're like five dollars a roll! Goodness, that would be a pain.

[abnormalizes]

Capitalist dystopia!

[She does jazz hands.]